The Eyes of Texas Are Upon You
by Val Evenstar
Summary: SG-1 goes to Texas! They meet up with Ba'al, the Ori, rattlesnakes and rodeos! Yee-haw! Mid- season 9.
1. Chapter 1

**_Author's Note:_** I started this about a year and a half ago, and still haven't finished it. It's about 3/4 of the way done, though, and a good story if I dare say so myself. The first part is about as intense as it'll get, contrasted by the second part of this chapter which is pretty light-hearted. It will hopefully have a good balance of humor and sobriety - and I hope you all enjoy it! Please let me know what you think!

* * *

Hoofbeats thundering on the dry, parched plain. Her own breath, coming in gasps. The pounding of her heart drowning out the midnight sounds.

She strained her ears, trying to hear past those noises, to hear if she was still being followed. She urged her horse on faster, felt the warm wind brush past her face while she raced for her life. It was a risk, she knew, but she looked backwards anyway. There they were - the three riders, closing in on her.

She forced her panicked mind to think. This was her grandfather's ranch, her second home. She came there every summer, and knew the terrain, every acre of it. Surely she had a chance! Dread rose in her heart as she heard the other hoofbeats coming closer. She may be on familiar ground, but she needed to get off it. To get to the adjacent ranch, to the ranch house or the barn, where she could shout for help and be heard. Here, on the plains, there was only dried grass, copses of trees, barbed wire fencing and the odd oil jack. The only ones who could help her were helpless themselves. She was riding for their lives as well as her own.

Something whizzed past her side and landed with a sharp smack on her horse's flank. The mare squealed and lept forward in fear. She urged the horse on, her terrorized mind knowing full well what that meant. Ropes! She risked another look back, saw the loop of a lariat forming over one of the rider's heads. They meant to drag her down! She pulled her horse to the left, veering out of their path. If only she could make it to the neighbor's ranch!

She squinted her eyes, trying to make out the rushing shapes ahead of her. Tearing the Stetson off her head, she flung it backwards at her pursuers, hoping it might at least slow one of them down. She could see better now, but her situation had become worse than ever. With a sinking heart, she recognized the tall wire fence in front of her. The neighbors had put it up just a few weeks ago, to replace the sagging little fence that was always getting broken by the bulls. She knew her little mare could never make the jump.

Another rope swung by, and she desperately spurred her horse on. There was no other choice. Better to take the risk than to surrender. With a wild scream she drove the mare forward. The mare leapt, and she rose up and forward in the saddle, trying her best to help. They would never make it. It was too high. God, save us!

The mare's front hooves barely cleared the top strand; then the world jerked and turned as the back hooves caught, sending the young rider flying. She hit the ground rolling, as she'd been trained, but the shock of the impact sent waves of pain down her spine. Her horse had not been so fortunate; she'd heard legs crack when they hit the ground.

Her pursuers were almost upon her now. She stood up and ran, screaming words of defiance at them. "You're wrong! You'll never win! The Ori are not gods, you're selling your souls to the devil!" She felt a rope slide around her body, and gasped as she tumbled toward the ground, caught mid-stride. She struggled to loosen the rope, and screamed in pain and rage as she was dragged back towards the fence. It was over. She had failed.

In desperation, she cried out one last time. "There is only one true God, Jesus Christ!"

She dug her heels into the ground, but then her head hit the fence post and, with a flash of white light, the world exploded into darkness.

A single roll of thunder burst upon the silent plain.

Disturbed, a coyote threw back its head and sent out an eerie wail. A second joined it, sending their mournful harmony rolling across the prairie.

* * *

General Landry paused a moment to let the information sink in. It seemed ... almost too good to be true. "You're sure about this?" he asked Colonel Carter.

Sam nodded. "It's the best lead we've had on this case since we started, sir. The details may be a little sketchy, but for all we know this is accurate."

"Agent Barrett's the one heading up the operation?"

"Yes sir."

"And you trust him." The general had said it as a statement, but there was a hint of a question in his voice.

"We've worked together in the past. He does a good job."

Colonel Mitchell looked up from the folder lying on the briefing room table. "Don't you think its a little fishy, though, Sam? I mean, this place is literally in the middle of nowhere." He read from the folder, "Athens, Texas, population one hundred and twenty-four, main industry, cattle ranching, some oil prospecting. One hour east of San Antonio, two hours northwest of El Paso. Doesn't sound like a place Ba'al would put a cloning laboratory."

"Not lavish enough for his godlike tastes, you mean," added Daniel. "It's a bit of a change from his chalet in the Alps, apartment in Paris, island in the South Pacific, summer home in Virginia, headquarters in Seattle, etc."

"Maybe he chose this location for its obscurity," Sam pointed out. "What better place to hide something then the place no one would think to look?"

"You think there's a good chance of finding something there?" the general asked.

"Yes sir," Sam replied. "Like I said, it's the best lead we've had so far."

The general smiled. "And I suppose you want to check it out. Because SG-1 can do a better job than Barrett's men any day."

"Well... yes sir," Sam said, looking around at her teammates for confirmation..

"Right," Landry replied. "Looks like y'all are headed west!"

"I believe the state of Texas is located to the south and east of Colorado," Teal'c said, as the general left.

"Y'all?" Sam repeated softly as soon as the general was gone. Her face showed puzzled amusement.

"It means, "you all,"" Daniel translated. "Texan is a rather strange dialect of English."

"I suppose you'll fit in just fine down there," Cameron said, "although I have a hard time imagining you in cowboy boots."

"You speak Texan?" Sam asked Daniel.

"Of course I do," the linguist drawled. "After all, I speak about thirty different languages, plus the British, Australian, and Canadian dialects of English. I can blend in on the East coast and on the West coast, so I should be able to pass myself off as a native of the South."

Sam struggled to keep a straight face as he said this in a hideous drawl. Cameron winced. "You know, Jackson, there is a difference between Southern and Texan. I think what you've got is a crazy mixture of both."

Daniel grinned, leaned back, put his feet on the table, and pulled an imaginary blade of grass between his teeth. "Wa-al, at least we've got one feller who can blend in with the country folk," he said in a heavy Southern accent, glancing pointedly at Mitchell.

Sam couldn't hold back her laughter now, and she noticed that even Teal'c had a smile on his face.

Cameron smiled and rose to the unspoken challenge. He let his native accent come out thick. "Don' worry, pardner, by the time we get there we'll have you soundin' like a native... cow."

Daniel chuckled and retorted, "Ain't you done got me tongue-tied."

Sam wiped a tear of laughter from the corner of her eye. Hearing such an affront to the language coming from Daniel's mouth... it was almost too much to bear. Anymore of this and she'd be laughing too hard to breathe.

Teal'c wasn't helping, either. "I believe if the two of you can convince the outlaws that you are local guides and then lead them away from the area, it would give me ample time to infiltrate their stronghold and rescue Colonel Carter."

Sam gave him a look. "Why me?" She didn't mind being rescued by Teal'c - he'd done it often enough - but this sounded just a tad chauvinistic. He must've been watching too much Bonanza lately.

"Is that not a suitable plot for a western style adventure?" Teal'c asked.

"Yeah - but any show concerning us would have to be on the Sci-fi channel," Cameron pointed out.

Daniel chuckled. "Yeah. Right. I can see it now..." He lowered his voice in imitation of a television announcer. "Stargate: SG-1 - now on DVD!"

It sounded so ludicrous Sam couldn't keep from giggling like a schoolgirl. She even heard Teal'c join in the laughter.

This was going to be a fun mission.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Sorry. I know I haven't updated forever. Just a warning... this chapter sucks. I can't believe I wrote this... but it was so long ago.

* * *

Malcolm Barrett turned up the small desk fan in the office and tugged at his collar. He scowled. It was hot even in the high-rise office building, it was August and he was in Dallas instead of D.C., and SG-1 was coming to take over his case.

Not that he didn't like seeing SG-1 - or a certain wormhole physicist, to be more precise - but he'd poured hundreds of hours into searching for the remnants of Ba'al's empire on Earth, and he wanted to be there when they finally uncovered something important.

Athens, Texas. The intelligence was good, and very promising. Barrett sighed. He knew SG-1 knew more than his men could hope to know about Ba'al, and if there was anything to be found, they'd be the ones to do it. And he didn't particularly want to camp out in West Texas in 110-degree weather for a week. But. It would be nice to be able to see the fruits of all the hours he'd spent poring through data, searching for the threads.

Barrett leaned back in the chair and looked at the wall clock. A brilliant blue flash of light filled the room and left him momentarily blinded.

It also left four people in the room with him.

Barrett blinked his eyes, trying to clear the afterimages off his retinas. He stood.

"Agent Barrett," said Carter, extending her hand.

He shook it, still slightly dazed. "Colonel Carter. Good to see you."

Sam smiled. "Agent Barrett, you remember Dr. Jackson, Teal'c, and Colonel Mitchell."

"Of course," Barrett lied. He knew he'd worked with Jackson once, but he only knew the others by reputation. "Welcome to Dallas." He motioned for them to sit down. "General Landry told me you were coming. I'll give you all the pertinent data, but I suggest you take most of the afternoon off. You'll need to get to know this state - it's got an ... interesting... identity."

Sam nodded. "I was giving a lecture in Houston once, and stopped by the state capitol on the way back. They've still got "Republic of Texas" engraved on the floor."

"Takes some getting used to," Barrett admitted. "I've been working out of this office for two weeks now and I still get strange looks from the locals."

"So," Cameron said, "What can you tell us about this clone factory of Ba'al's?"

Barrett moved to fetch a folder from a nearby cabinet, and laid several large satellite photographs on the desk. "Our first tip was from an oil surveyor who was going over the region near Athens," he said. "Some odd signals were messing up his instruments. Of course, it took us a few weeks to learn that and a couple more before anyone checked it out."

Daniel scanned the photographs. "I don't see anything besides ranch houses and roads."

"There really isn't anything to see on that one - that's just an aerial of the town. But look at this," Barrett pulled another photograph out. "It's the latest from the Odyssey. Got it just this morning. Traces of naquadah, and some energy readings that may be from naquadah generators. And a few we couldn't identify. Now, we'd suspected this area before the Odyssey gave us this, from what our spy satellites and others told us. That's why you got the call. But we still don't know if there's anything there - anything intact, that is. We think that the facility is located somewhere in this area." Barrett pointed to a portion of the map that was outlined in red. "The Rockin' S Ranch, formerly owned by J.B. Dunbar. He deserted the ranch about a month ago and sold all the stock. Livestock, that is."

Cameron looked up from a sheet he was scanning. "And do you think that might have anything to do with..." He looked back at the paper. "... the murder of 13-year-old Alicia Walters, around 0100 hours July 22? Body found in a ditch not far from the border of the Rockin' S and Circle H Ranch... must've been her relatives' place... and they moved out within the next week."

"It might," said Barrett. "The fact is, the crime rate in that town has spiked ever since then. So has the number of people moving out. And they're selling for ridiculously low prices, too."

"Wait, wait," interrupted Daniel. "If this facility is Ba'al's, he would've set it up months, even years ago. It makes sense that this sort of crime might happen when he tried to start up an operation - especially in a small town where everyone knows each other - but not months later, when things are deserted."

"Is it possible that it is not deserted?" Teal'c asked. "That Ba'al is still growing clones on Earth?"

Barrett's eyes widened in surprise. This was not something that he had considered. He saw the members of SG-1 exchanging glances, and suddenly he wished he could assure them that it wasn't even a remote possibility. But he'd been in the business too long to write this off.

Could Ba'al still have a presence somewhere on Earth?

* * *

Sam settled the black Stetson on her head and made a face at the full-length mirror. She looked like an idiot. The jeans were ok - boot cut Levi's - but the boots looked dumb. They were comfortable enough, but she'd never imagined wearing something like that in public. She looked like a cowgirl wannabe, for goodness sake. The belt was wide and decorated with silver ... whatevers... that looked Western. She tugged her white blouse down over it, trying to hide it. At least the blouse had short sleeves - she'd need it in this climate.

Yesterday afternoon it had been 108 degrees by four thirty. It hadn't cooled off until at least eight o'clock. And all the people they'd talked to said that West Texas was way worse than this.

Sam had tried to pass it off as a Texas tall tale - during the afternoon's outings she'd learned one thing; that everything was bigger in Texas and woe to all those who said it was not! They'd gone to the suburbs, on Barrett's advice, to meet some locals and get a feel for the land. They'd stopped at a state park to fish and listen to some old-timers weave tall tales about the good ol' days. When the weather had gotten too hot, they'd gone to a library and read about Texas history and culture. More tall tales and legends. They'd admired the brave souls who still ran about in hundred-degree weather playing soccer and baseball, and stopped by a working ranch to watch cowboys sweat and cattle move.

Sam thought she'd be safe as long as she didn't act too much like a New Yorker and didn't mess with Texas. The people were very friendly, for the most part, and very proud to be Texan. But they didn't dress like this!

She frowned at the mirror again. She looked like one of the girls she'd seen at the line dance last night, like she'd just come in from a rodeo or something. Even at the dance most girls had just worn jeans and modern blouses. Except for the ones who'd worn calico skirts, of course.

Sam moved away from the mirror and opened the door of the changing room. Good. The hallway was empty. Her ears reddened when she imagined what the others would say when they saw her. She sincerely hoped that they looked just as ridiculous.

She reached the conference room door, and hesitated, hand on the knob. She peeked through the small window. The other three were already there, dressed in their strange outfits. Actually, they didn't look bad at all. It was Barrett who looked out-of-place in his suit.

Teal'c had chosen to go all out, and was sporting a pink-and- orange checked shirt with a bolo tie, along with a large white Stetson and broad belt buckle. Definitely too much Bonanza. Daniel had chosen a more conservative color, without a tie, and was juggling a red bandana and cowboy hat, evidently trying to decide on one. Cameron had avoided the cowboy hats entirely, and had a maroon Texas A&M baseball cap on his head. He'd chosen a solid colour long-sleeved work shirt - Sam wondered how soon he'd drop from heat exhaustion - and was advising Daniel to go with the hat.

Well. Sam had already decided she'd rather hear them tease her to her face than go around giving her strange looks without mentioning her appearance. Even though it wasn't her style, she might as well make her entrance dramatic.

She flung open the conference room door, put one hand on the frame and struck a pose. She did her best to radiate confidence as she asked, "Well, boys, how do I look?"


End file.
